Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) is finally seeing encouraging results from its 2006 restructuring. After the company released its fiscal Q4 results last Thursday, its shares rose about 5% to $19.05, with further gains likely.
Symantec's revenues increased 5% to $1.36 billion. The company snagged 376 customer contracts with values of more than $300,000, and 99 deals in excess of $1 million. The company's focus on broader product offerings appears to invite larger deal sizes. Roughly 77% of Symantec's large transactions involved multiple products and services.
Symantec's February launch of its Norton 360 security product was another bright spot. With 1 million units already shipped, it's the most successful debut in the company's history.
Net income was less inspiring, dropping by nearly half to $61 million, or $0.07 per share. The drop was partly owed to a $51 million restructuring charge for workforce reduction and facilities consolidation.
In its efforts to improve the overall efficiency of its operations, Symantec is expected to slash $200 million in costs for the year. Toward this end, it's melding its enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and changing the compensation structures of its sales force, among other efforts.
Companies like McAfee (NYSE:MFE), Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP), and EMC (NYSE:EMC) have shown that the security space still has room for growth. Symantec plans to capitalize on this opportunity by rolling out important new products, Taking advantage of this, Symantec plans to roll out some key products in the coming year, including June's launch of its next-generation business security program, code-named Hamlet.
In the meantime, management seems to be performing in a shareholder-friendly fashion. In fiscal Q4, it repurchased $500 million worth of its own stock. In the same quarter, the company posted cash flows between $560 million and $570 million.
Combined with a compelling valuation, these accomplishments should catch the interest of Foolish investors. It's no surprise, then, that Symantec's already a selection of our Motley Fool Inside Value newsletter.
We've secured a supply of further Foolishness:
For more of the best stock bargains, try Inside Value free for 30 days.
Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 1,610 out of 28,402 in CAPS.
